


Cult of the Emperor

by Serriya (Keolah)



Series: Interdimensional Bridge [43]
Category: Warhammer 40.000
Genre: Alternate Universe, Chaos, Crossover, Dimension Travel, Gen, Gods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-07-13
Updated: 2006-07-23
Packaged: 2017-12-09 01:27:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/768380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keolah/pseuds/Serriya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuna Taike, now ascended to daemon princedom, roots out imperial loyalists on a Chaos-controlled planet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cult of the Emperor

As others had mentioned, and had been smug in their complacence, things had indeed been going smoothly, more so than could reasonably be hoped for. It was inevitable that events would come to the attention of the various powers that be, though, and echoes of that started reaching the ears of certain peoples in charge. Zuna had been working on the most recent acquisition, putting things in order and disorder as whim struck.

As long as the world served the purpose of Chaos, the five commanders were given as much leeway as they could wish for in their respective domains. It came as some surprise then, when Zuna received notice from the planetary defense network that a dragon had arrived suddenly in the skies and gone to ground in the center of the city.

Ilane was the soul of Chaos, or more specifically, she served to shape those who are conquered to the proper shape and function for their purpose. She was ruthless and implacable in her work, so she found the current situation completely unacceptable. She was mindful of the third Law as she stormed through the halls of the building Zuna had taken as her own, but she wasn't reluctant to cause severe anguish.

Multiple bodies lay in her wake, but even that did nothing to assuage the seething of rage in her breast, and she stopped to gather her composure before approaching Zuna's lair.

Zuna was present, a little startled as to this unexpected visit but at least fully clothed when she turned up.

Zoth gave one look at the 'visitor' that had arrived and went wide eyed. "Mayhaps I should, eh, just uh, excuse myself..."

Little had changed about Ilane since she was last seen. She still wore the clothes of an Inquisitor and relished the irony that comes with crushing the souls of the people in the name of a different and very real god. Only her eyes were different, as they glowed with blue fire, and those flames were kindling quite brightly today.

"Have you heard?" she asked with deceptive calm. "We seem to have an infestation in our ranks, reports have reached me regarding a Cult of the Emperor," she spat the name out, "spreading its disease on more than one world..."

Zuna blinked for a moment. "'Cult of the Emperor'?" She snorted in disgust. "I don't see why anyone would _want_ to be a part of any such thing. Clearly they need to be ... enlightened."

"Oooh, people to spy on and scare the hell out of, my favorite!" Zoth chimed in.

"There is the stench of the false emperor's touch in this, doubt it not," Ilane snarled, dispensing with the calm, the third eye flaring open above the others. "They seek to undermine what we're building, and this will NOT be tolerated..." She began to pace angrily.

"Indeed not," Zuna said pensively. "What precisely have they been doing, and where?"

"Spreading poison, to this point," Ilane replied. "Though I doubt they'll stop there if they're not stomped out. Sabotage would be well within reason, at the very least. Cells have been found on four worlds, but..." she scowled, "They were far too obvious, I feel that there's something more hidden beneath that's yet hidden like an old plague. I've been purging the taint where it's found, but no trace have I found of this other."

"Infiltration should be relatively easy," Zoth commented noncholantly. "I've been with the Alpharion subverting Imperial controlled planets for years, so I've got the know-how."

Ilane looked thoughtfully at Zoth, speculating on the possibilities. "That is likely why my intuition brought me here. I think your brand of stealth may serve better than my wrath."

"Whereas some of these people might know I'm with Chaos looking as such..." His figure shifted and distorted, making him look like a regular, everyday citizen. "They won't think a thing of one of their own coming to their cause, would they?" he said, grinning evilly.

Zuna nodded. "The obvious ones are not so much a worry as the ones who are not so obvious and will evade any attempt at pinning them down..."

Ilane clenched a hand into a fist. "I know they are hiding somewhere, I _know_ this, but beyond the worlds that they've shown a presence on I can find nothing definite. Someone or something is interfering with my vision..."

"Perhaps the wrathful Inquisitor could be in two places at once?" Zoth shifted again, assuming a perfect likeness of Ilane. "If need be," he said, mirroring her voice. He dropped the illusions. "Whatever the case, infiltration, information gathering and assassination are some of my more...prime abilities. We'll find these fools, and root them out."

Zuna nodded again. "Hmm, yes. It may well do."

Ilane smiled crookedly. "No, I think your talents would best be used in more... subtle fashion. There is no fear in the fanatics, and each has had body and soul laid bare before death... to no purpose at all. I will provide you with what is known and leave the rest to you." She looked to Zuna. "I will assume assimilation procedures entirely in the interim. I believe this danger is far more pressing, would you agree?"

Zuna nodded in agreement. "I believe so, yes. I'm certain that, if necessary, my own abilities might be of use in ... convincing them to be helpful." She smirked.

"Perhaps, but I would not rely on it," Ilane said. "Something was laid within the minds of those who had been found. All may not be so equally protected and provide further information, though."

"Interesting," Zuna said. "Regardless, one way or another..."

"Some sort of mental conditioning?" Zoth asked.

"No," Ilane replied thoughtfully, "There was a feel of power to it that was quite... unique. If you find the method and the maker of it, I will certainly consider it a favor done if the information or person be brought to me." She smiled unpleasantly, promising pain and sorrow to no end.

"So find who's fueling this insurrection and bring em in?" Zoth asked.

"I'll see if I can't figure that out," Zuna said with a wicked smirk.

"If you can, certainly," Ilane replied with a nod. "If it proves impossible then kill the ones responsible. I do not trust the mind which rests behind this not to cause further inconvenience."

Zuna nodded. "So bet it. Where do we start?"

"I will provide a list of the infected worlds," Ilane said, "Though you must go on the assumption that these are _not_ all of them, just as I will not. The longest-known cell existed in the Chaust system."

"Right," Zoth said. "We'll get to it."

Zuna nodded. "Naturally. Hmm."

"Vermiis will doubtless be pleased by our cooperation in this matter." Ilane smirked, though she did indeed have a deep and abiding fear/respect for the entity.

Zuna went to proceed to prepare for their departure. Ilane left in a considerably better mood, though she didn't bother cleaning up the unconscious behind her. Mere minutes later she was once again gone along with the oppressive presence of her dragon.

Zoth made certain his gear is in order, gathering up the few things in Zuna's room first. "Sheesh... all business there."

Zuna snickered softly. "Let's go, shall we?" She headed off.

Zoth trotted off with her, necessary gear in a mesh vest.

It wasn't difficult to arrange transport to the system, not with Zuna's standing among the ranks of Chaos, and they found themselves soon hanging above a filthy reddish-brown planet. Chaust IV was the most populaous world in the system, but by no means the only one, and there were asteroid facilities as well. The surface of the world looked filthy due to the sprawling city that covered it from pole to pole.

Zoth made certain his scope was aligned properly during transit. "Looks like _just_ the place I'd want to settle down in!" he remarked sarcastically when they arrived.

Zuna smirked slightly. "I guess cleanliness was never that important to these people." She went to head down to the planet.

Zoth joined her, and winked from existance.

It didn't look or smell any better on closer inspection, though they could be reassured in the fact that it was no worse than when Chaos conquered here... there was something to be said for a Chaos that was more interested in keeping things running and efficient than decorating every damn door frame with hideous demonic gargoyles.

To start out with, Zuna first checked to see if they had any prisoners of this particular group still alive and coherent. Perhaps surprisingly, Zuna did find that there were still prisoners alive, though locked deep in the bowels of a prison and not taken well care of. Ilane killed three quarters of them and left the rest to consider their sins in solitude... Zuna, of course, demanded to see the prisoners immediately and fully expected her orders to be complied with posthaste.

"Mmm, been awhile since I've done any interrogation," Zoth said. "Hope I'm not too rusty."

Things might be better for the average peon than they were before, but the harsh realities of a military command structure snapped the guards immediately to obey on fear of their lives... or worse. They were darned helpful, in fact, and would provide anything at all that the divine mistress might wish.

Once she was down to see them, she wasn't too pleased about so many of them having been killed carelessly, and hoped that she could get some information out of the ones remaining. Provided they didn't keel over dead as well.

The first prisoner brought was an emaciated elderly man who was missing an arm that looked to be a recent injury that had healed poorly. His breath rasped and bubbled in his lungs, but his eyes were a defiant pale blue as he was strapped down to a table for examination. The full array of tools normally used for interrogations were surely present. Zoth pondered the situation for a moment, giving the old fellow a once over.

Zuna looked him over and made a bit of a face. "Well, what have we here?" She sighed and shook her head a bit.

"You may break my flesh," the old man rasped. "But the Emperor shall save my soul. Do your worst, heretic."

"Are you certain of that?" Zoth asked quietly, Illusion magic dimming the room and bringing up a hellish red glow from the floor.

"I have no interest in breaking your flesh," Zuna said. "Such methods are crude and barbaric."

Oddly enough, the old man looked peaceful as he closed his eyes against the reddish glow. He truly didn't seem in the least bit afraid...

"Your 'Emperor' has clearly not seen fit to save you from this situation," Zuna pointed out.

"Why would he leave you in such deplorable conditions?" Zoth asked.

"The Emperor's will is unknowable," the old man replied serenely. "One without question is pure of spirit."

Zuna couldn't help but laugh aloud at the absurdity of that. "In other words, you've no idea why he left you here to rot, and the only salvation you expect to get is posthumous. No, I won't give you that. You're going to live a long, long time if I have anything to do with it. What do you think about that?"

"It doesn't have to be a bad life, either..." Zoth said.

"In suffering is the way to salvation," he replied, quoting from the Imperial doctrine. "There is no pleasure in life greater than the knowledge that the Emperor shall prevail."

The room turned into a grassy field, with a large oak near them. The sun high in the clear blue sky. A breeze picked up, buffeting Zoth's hair. "You could go back to this..." he said, holding his arms out wide and walking in a slow circle.

"Hmm, you think suffering will save you?" Zuna proceeded to try to direct her powers to heal his body as best as she could.

"There is none who may supplant the glory of the Emperor," came the almost automatic reply, "Anything else is illusion and falsehood." He ignored as best as he can the sensation of wellbeing which suffused his body, but grated with a bit more strength. "Damnation is any other word save His."

"And perhaps some nice music, too," Zuna said, pulling out her flute and beginning to play a sweet, gentle melody.

Zoth focused a bit harder, bringing the breeze to cool him, and the smell of sweetgrass and summer to his nose. "Come now, my good man," he said gently. "Would you throw away everything just like that?"

"What does he truly save you from?" Zuna said, lowering the flute for a moment. "Your lives, your planet is in a deplorable condition. Who would want to live in such a matter? It need not be so." She continued playing.

Zoth made certain the 'sun' was warming him. "Pollution wracks your planet." He leaned in a bit. "Did you know it's visible from _space_?"

"He... he has given us life," the old man said, growing a bit more resolve as he continued, "And what is the darkening of the skies? It is the way of man, and certainly grows no better under the wretched boot of Chaos!"

"But is not the Emperor the 'Savior' of mankind?" The locale quickly changed to the more sickly industrialized surface of the planet, barren and smog-choked. "You call this saving mankind?"

Zuna continued to play, a sorrowful, wistful tune, lamenting the state of things.

"Each must give of themselves," the old man replied caustically. "The Emperor protects from the greater evils and to each of us falls the duty of purifying our own souls to bring him glory!"

Zuna put down her flute. That was definitely not normal, she thought. "Is that really necessary?" she said.

Zoth chuckled at his resistance. "Bringing another glory through self-purification? Do you think he knows you're doing it?"

He seemed beyond listening at this point as energy crackled at the edges of his eyes and every visible orifice. A reek of charring flesh permeated the air and the old man sank back to the table with a final sigh...

"Okay, what the fuck?" Zuna said.

Zoth dropped the illusions and stepped back. "That power Ilane mentioned?"

Zuna stood back and scratched her head for a moment.

Something was definitely unnatural about it, but what its source might be wasn't immediately apparent since there was no hint of outside interference. Zuna called in somebody to clean up the mess in here and went somewhere quieter and more private to think, gesturing Zoth along. He followed, rather wondering what just cooked that poor old fool from the inside out.

The place might stink, but the service was first rate. There was someone in there cleaning before she could blink, and they provided the Warden's office for her use.

The warden, of course, had no objections to abandoning his fairly plush office and adjoining living quarters. A lovely time of year to go on an asteroid mining facility cruise, really.

"I haven't really known humans to just spontaneously combust like that," Zuna said. "Admittedly, not having known a lot of humans, that might be their normal method of dying, but I rather doubt that." She snickered. "Alright then, plan B."

"Plan B?" Zoth asked.

Zuna paced the recently vacated office thoughtfully. "Yes. Let's see. We've still got some prisoners to play with. How about staging a 'rescue' and see if we can fool 'em long enough?"

"I was thinking a bit more grandiose, but that works too." He chuckled.

"Generally, the simple solutions are the best, and until that proves to not work, let's not get too complicated, more things to go wrong that way."

"And if our helpful 'rescuee' somehow psychically figures out what's going on and spontaneously combusts too, well, we'll really know something is up eh?" Zuna said. "Not that that wasn't obvious anyway."

Records indicated there were three prisoners surviving, each of them held in different parts of the prison and away from contact with any other prisoners to avoid further pollution. All three were male, two were middle-aged and the third was little more than a teen. That didn't mean much in the grind of a hiveworld, though.

"Hmm..." Zoth looked at Zuna, and she saw something shimmer in front of her. "There. Believable, since the Imperial Guard doesn't field women in standard uniform." Which was what he abruptly appeared as, a sergeant.

Zuna proceeded to make some arrangements to ensure things went smoothly and avoid getting her rescuee accidentally shot at during this thing, hopefully. Zuna glanced down at herself. She looked like an Imperial Commissar.

The guards were more than happy to do whatever was asked of them, though they were more than a little nervous and hopeful that their own lives weren't to be spent like water in the endeavor.

Once everything was in order, she said, "Okay, we all set?" and went to head down to head down to where the young man was being held.

"I can provide the typical sounds of a siege... bombs, yelling, lasfire, all that good stuff." Zoth said, starting up the scenery as they head down.

Imaginary las-blasts flicked past his door window (if it had one), barking of orders and the "BLARGH!" of dying soldiers, interspersed and random. A couple explosions that sounded distant, as if bombardment was occurring.

All seemed to be going well, the guards doing their best to make their jobs as realistic and believable as possible, but they arrived at the young man's solitary cell to find him... very suspicious.

He backed away from them, not believing his eyes. "In the Emperor is there truth. Chaos knows only lies."

Zuna didn't miss a beat, and said frantically, "Come on, we have to get out of here!"

"Good, we found another one alive," Zoth said, firing shots down the hallway. "These bastards'll torture people for fun!"

Doubt flickered in the young man's eyes at the 'Commissar's' words, though his mind was wondering why there would be an _Imperial Guard_ commander here... they were world defenders while the vaunted Space Marines performed all the heroic holo adventures... and that doubt caught up when Zoth put his bit in.

"You can't fool me!" he snarled and leapt at Zuna with his bare hands.

"What are you doing--" Zuna said, breaking off. "This one's been tainted by Chaos!" she declared.

The young man's hands settle unerringly at her throat and twisted with frantic, desperate strength, choking off her air.

"Bloody heretic," Zoth said, leveling his Casull at his head and pulling the trigger.

Zuna wasn't feeling like complaining about killing him when the fool was trying to kill her. The man wasn't exactly dodging or anything else, and a pistol shot at close range to the skull proved as effective as a hammer to a fly. His brain splatters the wall and he jerked away to fall to the floor, spasming in death.

"Fuck." Zoth commented flatly, opening the drum to put another round in the empty chamber. He slapped it closed with a flick of the wrist and gave the drum a spin. "Plan C?" he asked, rather dejected.

Zuna said, "Well, that went about as well as an icicle in a lava pit." She called in the cleaning crew.

The guards blinked at her wanting to clean up one of the cells. The usual procedure was just to leave it to rot and keep the next prisoner company, but... she was the boss and they leapt to obey.

She went back to the office again to pace and think some more. "Okay, what went wrong there?" she wondered of Zoth.

"He seemed to know it was a ruse before we even got there. No clue."

Something nagged at her mind as she paced, but it took a few minutes for it to click. The man had taken one look at them and that was it. Something wrong about their disguises?

"Maybe we need more convincing disguises..." Zuna said. Sadly, they were a bit short for storm troopers. Sadly, Zuna had never seen Star Wars and hence couldn't make that comment.

"Sorry! Geez, I'm not a big kickass Elkandu, unlike some of us..."

"No, I mean, maybe we had the wrong ones in the first place, not to say that your skill was not, of course, impeccable," she said with a wink.

Inspiration struck like a thunderbolt. Sending the Imperial Guard into a setting like this would be about as useful as dropping the average heretic into a meat grinder. _Space Marines_ on the other hand, that's what they did all the time and it was deeply-rooted in the Imperial psychology. Or the Inquisition, but they were scary too... although that could have its uses.

"Ah..." He thought a minute.

He looked at her, grinned, and suddenly grew about two feet and was wearing the red plate armor of the Blood Angels.

"The gods amongst mortal men..." he said, voice distorted as if through a vox caster.

Zuna smirked. "Well, that's a bit more ... But what about me?"

"Well, I can probably fix you up too," he said, and her things blurred for a second. "Say something."

"Wha?" Her voice sounded fuzzy and metallic, like coming from inside a helmet. And very masculine.

"Alright, let's try this again then, shall we? We've only got two prisoners left or we'll have to find some more of em." She silently cursed Ilane for not leaving more of them, but considering their luck with it, she couldn't really blame her.

The difference in the performance might just be perceived, or it could be that practice did indeed make perfect. This time when they arrived, the prisoner looked on them with all they could hope for in his eyes, shock and a flash of awful respect, and just a hint of relief and joy.

"What... how?" he stammered.

"Ave Imperator, citizen. We have broken the vile grasp of Chaos and have come to rescue you." Zoth said, modulating his voice to sound grim and stern through the illusory vox.

"We must make haste to liberate you from here," Zuna said. "The fates of the other prisoners we found were not pleasant. Thank the Emperor at least one can be saved."

Weakened by his ordeal, the man trembled and fell to his knees where he swayed with exhaustion. The time spent here has not served him well, but what could really be expected in the vile grasp of Chaos?

"Quickly, citizen. We must get you to safety." Zoth beckoned to the man.

Zuna looked both ways down the corridor nervously, as if expecting people to come shooting at them at any moment. "Come!" she said, "We can delay no longer."

One thing to say for fanatics, they had a good solid core of stubborn determination. The man nodded mutely and pushed himself back up, then moved near the two 'Marines' to await their direction. "For the Emperor," he murmured prayerfully.

Zuna proceeded to head for the exit, making a fair enough show of peering around corners and shooting at (presumably illusionary) opposition as one might hope from any action movie.

Zoth started slowly walking up the corridor. "I hope, for the Emperor's sake, the resistance will contact us. You did resist, didn't you?" He gave the man a glare only an Astartes could manage.

Simply relieved at the Emperor answering his prayers in the form of the Space Marines, the man followed numbly and did his best to stay out of their way. He didn't know what they were going to do once they get _out_ of this prison, but he trusted the Emperor to provide.

He answered the question with profound dignity, "Of course we did, though many others were corrupted and lost their faith!"

"We must contact them in order to begin the effort to reclaim this planet," Zuna declared. "We must locate those yet loyal to the Emperor."

The man winced, but drew on some inner reserve that had managed to survive to this point and straightened. "Anything I can do for the Adeptes Astartes is done in His name. Command it, as is your right."


	2. Illusory Prison Break

Where we left off, Zuna and Zoth were "escaping" from the prison with a prisoner.

When last we left our intrepid band of Chaos her... hmm, heroes just didn't seem quite the right fit, but I suppose it was a matter of perspective at the moment. They had 'rescued' a prisoner from durance vile, disguised beneath the illusion of a couple of Blood Angel Space Marines. They had commanded they be taken to start work on the resistance and their sucke... errr, comrade had readily agreed.

They did manage to make their way through the prison without any real challenges, and the prisoner took it in stride as more than one guard went running in terror at the sight of the Emperor's finest. It was only to be expected from the cowardly forces of Chaos, after all!

They'd keep moving, Zoth looking for a building and firing his 'bolter' at faux Chaotophiles.

Zuna was, of course, about now, realizing that she hadn't really thought that far ahead. "If you do not make it," she said, "we must know how we might locate them ourselves."

Zoth added a few crimson red drop pods in the distance, curls of smoke billowing from the engines and their doors opened wide, a soft glow emanating from the inside.

The prisoner looked up at Zuna, swallows visibly, then nodded and passed along the location of the single rendezvous point he's aware of.

"What would our quickest route be?" Zoth asked.

"I... I..." the prisoner looks flustered, stuttering. "It's at least twenty kilometers through the city, I don't think I could give directions without a map in the best of times, much less when Chaos is _shooting_ at us!"

Zuna continued to shoot at illusions and wondered what sort of transportation might be arranged on short notice.

A pretty commonplace thing to think about, really, and there was a pretty good bet that the prison was going to have a _vehicle pool_ inside it.

"It sickens me to do so, but we should requisition a vehicle from the prison. Perhaps there's one there that is big enough for us that isn't corrupted by Chaos," he said, spitting the last word out.

It didn't take them long to find the place, and there was a number of basic prison transports there alongside heavier armed hover vehicles.

"There should be something adequate here," Zuna said, looking over the vehicles briefly.

"Something with sufficient firepower to clear the filth from our path..." Zoth remarked, looking over one of the hovertanks.

So, they picked out a random armed transport and got the thing in the air without any great difficulty. Second-line vehicles didn't even tend to be Chaos-infused so there wasn't the added complication of dealing with a freaked-out prisoner. As soon as they were airborne, he started babbling frantic directions. Zuna left the steering to Zoth, hoping that things continued to go right for once.

"Stay in the back where it's safe, citizen," Zoth said. "Wouldn't want this to be for nothing."

And so Zoth's mind wasn't so taxed making all these illusions and he could concentrate on piloting, but they wouldn't tell him that. He kept random, smoking projectiles going overhead, las blasts and muffled sounds of a combat theatre going, however.

Depending on their interpretation, it was good or bad as a transmission came in on the radio just as they were speeding away to demand travel authorization from the prison... while the prisoner was within hearing range.

Zuna quickly went to escort the prisoner in back. The prisoner made no complaints on that, pathetically glad to have a Space Marine to take charge of things and at the controls when the orbital defenses might start firing...

"You can eat hi-ex bolter, you Chaos scum!" Zoth said over the comm while the prisoner was in earshot. Once he was gone, however, he continued in a low voice. "Sorry about that. We're on a mission from Ilane, digging up Imperium Cults in the area. This one just told us a meeting place, and we're heading there right now."

Luck seemed to be with Zoth this day, or perhaps the name he invoked inspired enough terror that they didn't question it. They signed off with an offer of assistance if required, just to send a transmission.

Zuna hung tight to wait for them to arrive and hoping that their own people weren't about to actually start shooting at them. Zoth didn't really think about it, just following the crazy old man's directions.

The prisoner looked like he was about to faint dead away from sheer shock, the idea of being at the receiving end of either an orbital laser or a flight of Chaos goonships frankly terrified him... but he bucked up and muttered prayers to the Emperor while the craft zipped along the route they'd been given. It was a hole in the ground, literally, an old sewer entrance in the middle of a small area of scorched rubble.

"The Emperor shall provide," Zuna said reassuringly. "We shall not fail today."

Behind his illusion, Zoth rolled his eyes at her comment.

The prisoner gave a weak smile, then shuddered as he remembered something and started digging through the storage areas in the back. "Has to be a weapons locker here someplace," he muttered.

It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for, and he snagged a laspistol from storage as they set down. "There's things down in the sewers," he offered by way of explanation. "Won't be any trouble to you with your armor, but I'll have to keep an eye out."

Zuna wished for a moment that she was _actually_ wearing armor, but figures her powers should do well enough if they got into anything _really_ hairy. And if she did it right, he might not even notice she was using magic! Well, meh, she thought.

She just nodded and said, "Is this the place?"

Zoth's Blood Angel armor gave him a solemn nod.

"Let's go," she said, heading to get out.

The prisoner nodded as he popped the hatch. "Yes, follow me." He moved unsteadily in the direction of the sewer entrance. He gave a sickly smile over his shoulder as they reached it and he put a foot inside the open tunnel mouth. "Kill anything crawling you see, please? Everything down there's poisonous."

Zuna said, "Right. Lead on, we'll be right behind you."

Zoth pulled out his Casull when the guy wasn't looking, maintaining the illusion of the bolter.

"Yes sir," he replied. 

They ducked into the tunnel, the stench hitting immediately like a physical blow as they entered. The first section was clear, but then they reached a cross-branching with a deep, slow-moving sludge covering its bottom. The man looked worriedly at the stuff, then waded in and headed off to the right.

Zuna made a face that was thankfully hidden by the illusion and followed after him. She had to remind herself just why she was doing this and what she was getting "paid" for it.

Little glowing red eyes watched them from narrow pipes that intersected with the main branch, entirely too many of them and in the wrong numbers for mere rats. The former prisoner didn't pay _those_ any heed, though, instead watching the sludge as he slogged forward through it. Just as well, too, as he suddenly cried out and opened fire at a slight ripple ahead of them, the lasbeam striking and killing something beneath.

As they continued onward, Zoth and Zuna got a good look at the carcass of some sort of centipede-like creature about two feet in length. Unpleasant.

Zuna made another interesting face at that, and wonders how long it'd take to get this crap out of her shoes, then just decided to burn the shoes when they were done here.

About a half hour later, and a couple more deadly critters safely eradicated -- one of them came from behind and Zoth managed to see it in time! -- the prisoner climbed out onto a dry ledge with a sigh of relief and skirted quickly around a corner. Light could be seen ahead.

Zuna gratefully climbed out and followed him, quietly refraining from a tirade about the crap.

Zoth did a cursory sweep of the stuff behind them, letting the prisoner out of his sight so he could reload, then headed up.

The man silently wished _he_ had Space Marine armor to keep the reeking industrial sludge and human waste off of him, but kept that nearly blasphemous thought to himself. He led the way onward a little further, the ledge coming out into a dusty overflow chamber with crates stacked haphazardly here and there. Several tunnels led from it and showed some signs of recent use.

A quick glance revealed the crates possessed some interesting weaponry, if their labels were correct... strictly controlled Chaos army stuff. Zuna thought, now we're getting somewhere. She made note of it at a passing glance but didn't say anything at the moment.

Several more storage rooms were encountered on the way, some of them containing some pretty heavy damned stuff that would be set up as crew-controlled weaponry. They were obviously being supplied from somewhere on the inside, a fact that would _not_ make Ilane's day. The prisoner disabled a few sentry systems in passing, then re-enables them as they continued onward through the warren of tunnels.

"Not much further," he said in little more than a whisper.

Zoth took note of how he disabled the guns, remembering for when they leave.

Zuna gave a nod, continuing on after him and thinking about where they might have gotten all this stuff, as well as paying attention to what she saw around her.

They reached a ladder soon thereafter and he stopped there, motioning to it. "Safehouse just above, there's usually a handful there at any given time but otherwise we try to keep on the move as much as possible."

Zuna glanced up and nodded, and said, "Very well. You first."

The prisoner nodded and stuck the pistol in his waistband, thankfully not shooting himself in the process as that would be highly embarrassing, and started to climb. His fingers flashed over a blinking keypad at the top and a trapdoor slid open that he climbed up through.

Zuna went to follow him up, pleased at how things were progressing so far. Zoth tailed them, making sure to make _CLANG_ noises as their 'gauntlets' hit the metal rungs.

Things were looking pretty good overall, the room they emerged in was another storage area for more mundane things like ration packs... somehow appropriate that rats were scurrying among them. There was a single door leading out of here, light leaking beneath it and a faint sound of hushed voices coming from beyond it.

Zuna was glad that her evil grin was concealed by an illusion. "Excellent," Zuna said. "More loyal servants of the Emperor, I hope."

Oh yes, they're loyal servants of the Emperor indeed, as they proved when the trio moved into the room and a good look was gotten of them. The five men present, ranging from youngish to one graybeard all went scrambling back from the table they'd been sitting at and dove for cover, unlimbering weapons as they shouted out, "Die, Chaos scum!" and equally derivative battle cries.

"What treachery is _this_?" Zoth bellowed, giving a glare to their guide.

Zuna, surprised, got out of the immediate way of being shot at, and said angrily, "You have lead us into a trap? We who would liberate this world of the grasp of Chaos?!"

The prisoner looked horrified, not having any idea what might have happened to his comrades to so go over the edge, but dove for cover as they started opening fire sporadically.

"Hold your fire!" Zuna demanded. "If you are truly loyal servants of the Emperor!"

The rebels weren't having any of it and continued firing, getting a better handle on the situation as their reflexes caught up with the momentary panic. Chaos scum were using _magic_ to disguise themselves as venerable Space Marines, it was heresy incarnate! One of them, either more lucky or skilled than his brethren, took a bead on Zuna and drilled her solidly with his las rifle.

Zoth snarled and returned fire with his revolver. "Foul heretics! Blasphemous, unrepentant cowards!"

Zuna stumbled and fell to her knees, and muttered, "Arrite, fuck you." Since they were obviously not buying it, she proceeded to let loose with Pattern and Chaos Magic, not really caring if she ripped the whole place apart.

They were fairly inspired, but not exactly in any position to deal with _that_ kind of firepower. It certainly didn't help matters that her powers had been boosted since ascending to Princedom... After the maelstrom of her fury cleared, all that was left of their opponents are bubbling, shapeless masses strewn among the twisted and warped wreckage of the room.

Their prisoner, meanwhile, was in shock as he recognized just what he had done as Zuna ripped loose.

"You can drop the damned disguise now, Zoth," Zuna said dryly, standing up and sighing a bit.

Zoth released the illusions, flicking a nasty grin to the prisoner. "Oops, huh?"

"I am _never_ getting these pants clean," Zuna muttered irritably.

"Just burn 'em." Zoth smirked, looking back to the prisoner. "Think we'll leave you here to ponder your faith. Ave Imperator," he said with a laugh.

The prisoner slumped, just watching them through horrified eyes, his pistol dropping from limp fingers.

Zuna smirked a bit. "Unless, of course, you'd care to help us root out some more people to kill," she said, flashing him a positively evil grin.

Zoth went to pick the pistol up, and crouched down next to him. "Now, do you see? Do you see what blind, mindless faith does?" he said in a soft tone. "If you don't question, if you take all the answers you are given...you aren't human anymore. You're a brainless slave to the religion. Do you really think that's what the Emperor intended the Imperium to be when he first conceived it?"

"I..." the man said, looking at the wreckage again and then back at the two, his eyes flickering with a momentary disgust and then sighing deeply. "You haven't left me with a hell of a lot of choices, have you? Even if I _did_ escape now, there's no way that the Emperor's servant would forgive this betrayal."

Zuna chuckled softly. "Never," she said. "You know what they do to traitors, after all."

Zoth looked over to the bodies. "They sought to keep to the mindlessness, the unswerving and unquestioning path. Look what happened. In their zeal, they got themselves into something farrrr worse than they expected."

"Yes," he replied bitterly. "There is only damnation for the traitor, better I had died with them within the purity of the Emperor's favor."

"Traitor?" Zoth said. "Free yourself of such belief. You are no traitor. You are a human, with a free will to decide what they want to do. Yes, we duped you. Yes, we killed your comrades. Their narrow perception somehow let them pierce my illusion. You however, seem to have a wider view."

"No, I have defied His will," the man replied. "Defiled the faith placed in my by His servant. When I die there is only the hell of the Warp to await me, just as your vile brothers have always offered. Damn you."

Zuna chuckled softly. "And we do not demand needless death, unlike the Emperor..."

"Alright." Zoth said, standing up. "Now the question is, how long do you want to live before your eternal soul is consumed by the Warp?" He twirled his revolver on his finger. "We could send you to it right now, if you'd like... to the void of nothingness and torment... or you could live awhile longer."

The prisoner shook his head slowly and stood. "I am damned, cast from His favor, but if that's to be than just as well that I destroy one more thing before what waits. I will tell you of one of your own who betrays you, if you promise me one thing... Your threats mean nothing to me now, I have nothing to gain or lose. Swear that you will give me death, and that name is yours."

"You may not believe this, but I don't seek to enslave the universe and make everything worse for the people living here," Zuna said. "I intend to make things a better place, how I can, and free them of the oppression of the Empire."

"I'd really rather not kill you," Zoth said, "You've been helpful... but I suppose a shift from hard line Imperial to Chaos _is_ a rather hard one, and with such immediacy..."

"I have no interest in the blandishments of Chaos, better the damnation of the soul in the Warp than an eternity beneath that foul lash and purpose," the man replied. "Swear it, and the name is yours. It would please me to do one final service in His name, to destroy a foul creature of Chaos."

"You already know that no amount of prayer can save you. No offerings, no begging for forgiveness can redeem you in the Emperor's eyes. You may as well forsake those ways and pledge yourself to making the universe more open minded." Zoth sighed. He lets his arm level to the man, and pulled the hammer back. "Who?"

"I promise you no such lash will come to you, but if you truly seek only death, if all you wish to do is senselessly throw away your own life..." She shrugged.

The man smiled mockingly as he uttered the name... of the planetary defense commander. Strangely, Zuna looked as though she really _didn't_ want to have to kill him, for some weird reason.

"But if you think of it, he's really not a Chaotophile if he's helping you guys with arms? That's _twice_ you've betrayed your own!" Zoth said, blanketing the room in an inky darkness and lowering the hammer of his revolver. "Sit and think about it." He said as he took Zuna's arm and led her down.

Zuna looked to the departing Zoth for a moment, but made no move to just leave the prisoner here herself. She sighed, rolled her eyes, and turned back to him, shaking her head for a moment. "Why I put up with him sometimes..." she muttered.

The prisoner stood there rigidly, simmering with hatred and bile after the double-cross and the taunting, visions of the hardware below dancing in his head...

Zuna said, "Ignore him. Sometimes he's a fool." She pulled out a weapon and said, "I don't want to have to do this, but if that's really what you want..."

He just looked at her for a moment, some shred of self-respect and dignity still clinging tenaciously, dangerously close to the surface. "Better you do what Chaos always does than leave me behind your backs," he grated.

"You have to understand that Chaos is not the same beast that it used to be. The old gods were destroyed and a new one has taken their place... one who does not agree with a lot of the foolish, wasteful things that they did."

Zoth stopped at the bottom of the ladder, smiling at the "good cop, bad cop" routine.

"One who strips the people of their souls as readily as the old," the man retorted scathingly. "And goes back upon their word out of spite and perversity rather than show a speck of honor? Spare me."

" _Iseen_ the workings of Chaos these past twenty years, serving the Emperor faithfully in the Guard."

"The Chaos you see now is not the one you knew twenty years ago," she said, and put away her weapon. "Very well. You are not of a current state to make decisions for yourself as you are. You think only what you've been told to think and repeat what you've been told to say. When you're capable of making your own decisions, and still wish to die, you may then."

"You been listening to the lady? That was the _old_ Chaos, pal. We're not mindless killing lunatics or depraved hedonists anymore!" He stopped to ponder that last bit, then continued, "We're trying to _fix_ stuff! To free peoples' minds from the shackles of the Imperium!"

"And what will you do?" the man answered mockingly, "Turn and walk away? I'd watch your backs carefully. I _designed_ the systems that protect this refuge."

"You're coming with me, and I'm going to make sure to protect you and make sure that you have the chance the Empire never gave you," Zuna said. "This I swear to you."

"Back to prison?" he laughed bitterly and gestured at himself. "I've already tasted the hospitality of Chaos, I don't think I'll do that again." 

Zuna shook her head firmly. "Absolutely not. I'm not going to throw you back in there. That place was deplorable!"

The man smirked. "You'll forgive me if I don't believe you after what led here. You can kill me, but you'll not take me back there."

"Would you have really helped us if we'd walked into your cell as we are now?" She smirked.

"She's got a point, man," Zoth's voice echoed up.

"No, any more than I'll help you now. Kill me now or walk away and kill me later," he said. "I won't go back."

"So you'll live, unarmed, in a sewer filled with all sorts of friendly creatures until you starve to death or get killed gorily by one of them?" Zoth said.

"I don't want your help right now. I want to help you," Zuna said. "And do you really have to make this harder on yourself?" She sighed.

He looked at Zoth and smirked. "Unarmed? You think to carry every single weapon from this bunker before I follow? Truly Chaos' insanity runs strong in you, especially if you believe that there's nothing more than what you've already seen."

"Well, I suppose we could simply weld the trapdoor shut after looking for all the other exits, then thermite the entire place..." Zoth said. "...leaving you in that room, sealed, with whatever goodies are still left."

Zuna said, "Zoth, please shut the fuck up already."

Zoth laughed from below. "What!"

"I'm trying to play psychologist here and you're not helping," Zuna said. "And get back up here. I've no intention of slogging through the sewers again."

"Your choices are simple enough," the man replied. "I see nothing more to talk about."

Zuna said, "You know, I have this thing called 'magic'," She waggles her fingers at him. "I only did that for your sake you know."

The prisoner hadn't really wanted to be reminded of that, and didn't even have the shield of the Emperor to stand behind on it now, but he still had a little grit left. "Then use it and be done with this farce."

Zoth wanted to pitch in about his magic, but just screwed his face up in a grin and stifled a chuckle.

Zuna proceeded to open a small portal not far from here to at least somewhere more hospitable that was not the prison. Then she proceeded to gently pick up the prisoner telekinetically and carry him through. "Come on, Zoth, unless you care to walk through the sewers again."

"Oh fuck no!" Zoth clambered back up the ladder.

The man went white and rigid at more than the constraint of the telekinesis, but remained completely silent for now.

Once Zoth was through, she let it close and turned to the man. "It's easy to beat someone's own will and initiative out of them and replace it with single-minded fanaticism. It's hard to tell them to start thinking for themselves again. Because you end up having to contradict yourself since they start out as such idiots that they just want to shoot themselves right away." She rolled her eyes.

"Like Communism!" Zoth said unhelpfully.

She could tell that she scored a point or two in that, but he remained stubbornly silent still. Probably going to be a hell of a lot more trouble than it would be worth to rehabilitate to useful levels, depending on who you asked.

Zoth looked a bit more serious. "You studied Ancient Terran nations, at all?" he asked him.

Zuna looked to the man and considered what she was going to do with him. She honestly didn't have the time, knowledge, or patience to rehabilitate him herself.

"Y'know, something besides the Imperial Primers would be helpful," Zoth said. "Too bad we don't have the Eyes of Truth here."

And she didn't really trust the Chaos nuts to do it, much as they were, you know, working for her.

"That could be arranged," Zuna said.

At any rate, it was pretty clear that he was going to remain belligerent for the time being and there were certainly other things that needed tending in short order. Disposing of him in one manner or another would seem to be in order.

"Alright, here's what I'm going to do," Zuna said. "I'm going to introduce you to some 'friends' of mine. Okay, they're not really friends and some of them would probably shoot at me on sight. But they're not Chaos, and they're not quite the brand of idiotic fanaticism you're used to, either. Except Scregor, he's a nut."

Zoth chuckled.

The man seemed pretty much resigned to the torments of Chaos, and at least remains dignified in silence.

Zuna proceeded to arrange rapid transportation for him to the Eyes of Truth over in the Elkandu Universe.


	3. Traitors to Traitors

When last we left the odd and strangely matched pair of Zuna and Zoth, they had recently disposed of their former prisoner through the expedient of foisting him off on the unsuspecting crew of the Eyes of Truth. They had the name of a major traitor in the ranks of the planet, the planetary defense commander...

Zuna said, "Alright, with him taken care of and out of the way, shall we go deal with our little weasel?"

Zoth nodded. "Yeah, lets go see what our good friend can tell us."

Zuna headed over that way. Transport wasn't difficult to arrange, unless they decided to take the shorter route of teleporting there and adding an element of surprise to the affair. Somewhere, a rather large dragon was pouting at the prospect of a missed meal.

Zuna was not picky on how she got there. Skipping past the minor detail, they arrived at fortress of the planetary defense network, a sprawling complex of multi-storied buildings and a fairly busy foot traffic going from place to place inside the walled and heavily armored perimeter.

"Want to make this a grand affair, or just sneak in?" Zoth asked her quietly.

"Meh, let's make it quiet. On the off-chance the guy was lying, or something," She shrugged.

It was possible to skip past the various security checkpoints with a bit of judicious teleporting, and skulking a bit served them quite well in that no one seemed to notice them at all on the way. They arrived at the central command building without incident, and that was where things got a little more complex and difficult to skip around as there were people all _over_ the place in there, day and night.

Which he'd do. "Ah, screw this," he said, and faded from view.

Zuna wasn't really so concerned about sneaking around so much as she figured it was not likely they'd keep her out anyway, but still.

"I could probably hack the doors and security clearance, if you want to be really sneaky about this whole thing," a disembodied voice said.

"Oh, come on," Zuna said impatiently.

No, in fact as they entered the command central building, the military personnel were extremely cordial and helpful, as would only be expected when dealing with an embodiment of the very real forces they follow. Zuna needed only speak her desire and she was escorted directly to the commander's office. The commander was in, naturally, and looked up from a small mountain of paperwork as they entered.

"Ah, good day to you, Mistress Taike," he said as he stood. Clearly an old soldier, as three of his limbs were the clunky prosthetics of the empire, while his right arm was clearly a mutated growth. "To what do I owe the honor of this visit?"

A plaque on the desk identified him as Cmdr. Wilar Noroff.

"Ah, some information we managed to get out of one of the prisoners has brought some interesting things to my attention..." She watched his reaction carefully.

Whatever reaction she expected, it was probably not the one she got as he flicked a control that locks the door behind them and he walked heavily around the desk. "So, what's it going to cost to buy my life, eh?" he asked bluntly.

Zoth did too, from behind his desk. Zuna folded her arms across her chest and looks at him. At least he was nice enough not to deny it.

"Or isn't there one?" He shrugged. "Bound to happen sometime, later for me than it's been for others."

"Who else?" Zuna asked.

Noroff smirked. "If it was that easy, you wouldn't be here now with most of the traitors who were captured tortured to death or suicided, would you? I think you can guess what I'm talking about, but I'll offer the consolation that you've now effectively eliminated the resistance on _this_ world."

"Small consolation, I wasn't interested in torturing anyone to death in the first place," Zuna said. "Who did that, Ilane?"

"Of course, that's what she does," Noroff replied with a lack of any real expression. "Unfortunately there were certain... controls put in place that aren't going to be so easily taken care of."

Zuna sighed and shook her head. "Fucking stupid." She didn't seem very happy with Ilane at the moment, but wasn't going to say so.

Zoth had been quietly searching the room for bugs.

"Nature of the beast," Noroff replied. "And damned good strategy at this stage of the game, hammering things back into some semblance of workable order while the new regime takes full control. Impressive really, even if it left certain openings to be exploited by certain agents."

"I have one question, though," Zuna asked. "Why?"

Noroff smirked. "He made an offer I couldn't refuse, just like he did on every other world that he's touched down on."

"Who?" Zuna asked.

"That I can't tell you," Noroff shook his head, "though I can guess from the black uniform and the fact that he had a damned _assassin_ as a traveling companion. Definitely no friend to the new regime."

Zuna frowned.

"You really ought to tell the lady," a voice grazed his ear from not more than half a foot away.

"Mm, if she has half a wit, she'll recognize the signs," Noroff replied tersely, "And if not..." he shrugged, "No names were passed, only... suggestions, and guarantees to the continued well-being of persons of interest on other worlds."

"Uh-huh," Zuna said. "I see."

"Of course, really makes you wonder why he didn't bother instilling any sort of controls in my head, doesn't it?" Noroff snorted.

"I'm not going to kill you," Zuna said.

"Oh? Figured out what he's doing, mm?" Noroff smirked. "Bright one, aren't you? Not that he wasn't busy enough making sure to make it exceedingly obvious."

Zuna didn't deign to comment on that, smirking a bit.

"It was assumed cults like this were going to exist," the voice said again. "But why join?"

"As I said, and offer I found difficult to refuse," Noroff replied. "I could really care less at this point as to the fate of one empire or another, whether it all descends into a chaotic swirl of paranoia and butchery."

Zuna shook her head and said, "I'd prefer if nobody else had to die over this all, but that's not going to happen, so I'll settle for making sure that nobody has to die needlessly."

"Good luck, you're going to need it," Noroff replied. "I was informed that should this meeting occur, I should pass along that every world the regime has consolidated has been visited, along with just enough information to suggest it's true. This wasn't the first world he visited, it was the _last_."

"I'll believe that," Zuna muttered, shaking her head. "I don't know why people don't seem to realize that they'd be better off..."

"Better off what? Dead? Most likely," Noroff sneered. "Especially with what's about to come tumbling down. Oh yes, you could ignore the situation, but then that leaves 'cultists' hiding out and waiting to sabotage in small, very painful ways. Of course, going after them is going to do just as much damage as the hunts unfold. A neat trap, if he said so himself."

Zuna shook her head. "No. Not dead. And I'm sure there's another way."

"Is there?" Noroff smirked and circled back around to sink into the chair behind his desk. "I somehow doubt it. You think you can stop the onslaught of insanity that's going to come out of this information? I think you'll find the details I can provide to be... interesting."

"If there is, I will find it," Zuna said. "And if there isn't, I will _make_ one."

The old soldier looked at her sharply. "Why should it matter? I'm certain that the ensuing chaos will suit your like ideally, and the toll will be relatively minor, a mere delaying tactic at best while certain individuals and their commands are purged."

" _Why_ do they think we're raving lunatics still?" Zoth wondered.

Zuna shook her head again. "I'm not a raving lunatic. I'm trying to create a society of peace and freedom from oppression here! Not simply change who is doing the oppressing!"

Noroff chuckled harshly. "It won't be in my lifetime, by any stretch of the imagination, and I rather suspect that the mistaken sense of purpose is quite, quite deliberate on the part of someone far above in the chain of command."

"Did you _prefer_ the ones that would rather sacrifice you to a god of ecstasy to having a sensible conversation?" the disembodied voice said again.

Zuna said, "Mistaken? You think I'm lying to you? You think I don't truly believe in what I'm saying? That _is_ what I'm striving for. And I _will_ do everything in my power to make it happen, no matter how long it takes or what it takes."

Noroff waved the mutated arm past one ear, as though shooing off a fly. "I served the Empire before this, I served your Master since the assimilation of this world. I care little for what Chaos was. And you mistake my meaning, I'm not so blind as to miss the trends of what has really changed here, it's no worse than the empire in reality. Now, whether those _outside_ are supposed to realize that... doubtful."

"So what is it you're looking for, if your derision of the Empire with that last statement is heartfelt?" Zoth asked.

"I believe I've already spoken clearly as to motive," Noroff replied dryly.

Zuna said, "I'll do what I can, and I'll do what I must."

Noroff snorted lightly, his eyes closing. "Seventy or so years of service, gives one a somewhat unique perspective. Oh yes, I can see the framework that's being laid for what the new order will ultimately be, whether that will be accomplished is questionable, but the methods currently employed are interesting. Conflicting schemes of fairness and cruelty, then the savage fury of the conqueror... interesting indeed."

Zuna paced, frowning thoughtfully.

"So what now, hmm?" Noroff asked conversationally. "You have what you came here for, and I'll be sure to get you a few more specifics before you go."

Zuna nodded and murmured, "Very well."

"Are you going to play nice with the current system or continue with this Imperial Cult crap?" Zoth said. "I know you said it's pretty much destroyed, but that doesn't mean another might start."

Noroff dug in a desk drawer and retrieved a datapad, slides it across his desk... obviously something he'd prepared some time ago. "That's everything I was given, take it with a grain of salt if you wish to considering the source," he said, "As for anything else, what happens now is not my decision."

Zuna took it, gave it half a glance over and shoved it in a pocket.

"Well, you've been helpful. At least moreso than the other people we dealt with." Zuna could swear Zoth was smirking at her, wherever he was standing.

"So happy to oblige," Noroff smirked.

Zuna turned and headed for the door with a bit of a sigh.


End file.
